ALVA, Okla. – Northwestern dropped their two games last week in Arkansas versus Harding (85-61) and Arkansas Tech (70-51). Rangers return home for two games this week and for a three game home stand. The Lady Rangers come into Thursday game in ninth place in the Great American Conference being two games out of the final playoff spot. The Red-and-Black are set to take on the University of Arkansas- Monticello on Thursday tip-off at 5:30PM and then Southern Arkansas Saturday early afternoon at 1PM.
 
The Lady Rangers enter Thursday with a 9-9 overall record and a 5-7 Great American Conference record.

The Lady Rangers are led by head coach Tasha Diesselhorst is in her fourth season with Northwestern who led the Lady Rangers to their first conference tournament appearance since joining the GAC last year. She has a 43-63 record here at Northwestern.

The Red-and-Black are led by senior Kalea King junior Bailey Brown Senior Jakeria Otey. These three players are the three double digit scorers for Northwestern. King averages 14.3 points with 5.2 rebounds, Brown averages 13.9 points along with 7.9 rebounds and Otey scores 10.8 points a game. Brown leads the team in rebounding at 7.9 followed by King, and Hillary Hurst. Kyleigh Leverich leads the team in assists with 57 for 3.1 a game followed by King 39 and Otey with 37. King now scored double digit points in five consecutive games and 14 of 18 games on the season.


Arkansas Monticello: Thursday 5:30pm (13-5, 8-4)

Northwestern gets to play host on Thursday, which will be a battle with Arkansas-Monticello. They come into the game 13-5 on the season with an 8-4 conference record. Monticello comes into the game on a three game winning streak, Oklahoma Baptist, Southern Nazarene, and Ouachita Baptist. OBU was their largest margin of victory as they beat them 80-30. This has UAM tied for second in the conference with an 8-4 record.

Arkansas Monticello is led by head coach Greg Long who is in his first season with the Blossoms. He has led them to a 13-5 start in the first 18 games along with getting out to a 8-4 record in conference. 
 
The Blossoms will be led Berniezha Tidwell averaging 16.9 points per game, Mackenzie Tillman coming in with 10.9 points per game are their two double digit scorers. Mekaylan Hicks comes in close with 9.1 per game. Tidwell leads them in rebounding at 7.2 per game followed by Hicks 5.3 and Nina Kizzee with 4.6. Tidwell also lead the Blossoms with 3.5 assists per game followed by Kayla Bradley at 2.9 per game.


The Blossoms will look to win through their defense as they have the number one scoring defense in the GAC only giving up 56.7 points per game which four less per game than the next closest in Southern Nazarene.
 
Arkansas Monticello struggles on the road, as they come in with a record of 3-4 away from Monticello compared to a 10-1 home record.
Northwestern hold the series history 6-5 going into this game. The Blossoms already defeated the Lady rangers back on January 2 with a final score of 57-56. Lady Rangers had two double digit scores in Brown (20) King (11) in the first matchup, where NWOSU had a three point lead going into the final quarter but just could not hang on.

How the teams compare: 
 

Northwestern		Arkansas Monticello
Points Per Game: 67.8		Points Per Game: 68.6
Rebounds Per Game: 36.9		Rebounds Per Game: 38.8
Assists Per Game: 11.9		Assists Per Game: 12.1
Turnovers Per Game: 17.1		Turnovers per game 17.3

 
The Lady Rangers will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. at Percefull Fieldhouse right here in Alva. Fans can watch the game at https://www.youtube.com/user/NWOSURangers or listen to the game http://mixlr.com/classic-hits-1057-krdr/  and lastly follow the game https://riderangersride.com/sidearmstats/wbball/
 
Southern Arkansas: Saturday 1:00 p.m. (13-5, 7-5)

Northwestern will stay home looking to sweep Southern Arkansas this season after beating them 77-49 last time. The Muleriders will come into Saturday afternoon's game with a record of 13-5 overall and 7-5 in conference. They sit two games above the Lady Rangers who are at 5-7, Southern Arkansas sits in seventh place.
 
The Muleriders are led by head coach Adam Collins who is currently in his second season with the university after completing his first season with a 3-25 record, he has already surpassed that by leading them to their current 13 wins for a record of now 16-30 in his career. 

The Muleriders come in with only one double digit scorer in Diamond Morris at 10.2 points per game. She is followed by Kisi Young 9.3 points per game. Young leads the Muleriders in rebounding this season at 5.7 followed by Ariana Guinn at 5.3. Southern Arkansas' Fatarah Kinnard leads the team with 40 assists, followed by Camryn Fennell at 38 assists.
 
Northwestern leads the series history between these two teams 8-7 including the matchup earlier this season 77-49. Northwestern comes in on a three game win streak against Southern Arkansas. The Muleriders come in at 4-3 on the road this season.

How the teams compare: 
 

Northwestern	Southern Arkansas
Points Per Game: 67.8	Points Per Game: 75.3
Rebounds Per Game: 36.9	Rebounds Per Game: 42.3
Assists Per Game: 11.9	Assists Per Game: 14.7
Turnovers Per Game: 17.1	Turnovers per game 21.7

  
The Lady Rangers will tip-off at 1:00 p.m. at Percefull Fieldhouse right here in Alva. Fans can watch the game at https://www.youtube.com/user/NWOSURangers or listen to the game http://mixlr.com/classic-hits-1057-krdr/  and lastly follow the game https://riderangersride.com/sidearmstats/wbball/